After slaying the zombie, Chu Xun continued along the main road.
Since a merchant caravan passed by Chucheng every three months and cleared the dangerous creatures off the main road, any creatures with a slight survival instinct tended to avoid the road and retreat into the forests. This meant that as long as Chu Xun stuck to the main road, the chances of encountering high-level zombies or mutated beasts were much lower.
Of course, this was only a significant reduction, not an absolute guarantee. It was said that two weeks ago, a bounty hunter team had encountered a terrifying creature on the main road. The entire team of 27 members, including a second-tier ability user, was wiped out!
So, in this world, no place was truly safe!
There were many zombies wandering outside Chucheng. Due to the virus, people who died often turned into zombies, so these disgusting creatures were like wild grass, always impossible to completely eradicate.
For Chu Xun, finding zombies to hunt was incredibly easy. As long as he got within 100 meters of a zombie, the zombies, with their remarkable sense of smell, would detect his human scent and rush toward him like wild dogs.
The only problem was, no one could guarantee how many zombies would come charging at him!
"Hungry..."
When Chu Xun heard the familiar roar coming from the nearby forest, he immediately knew trouble had arrived.
Sure enough, the next moment, three zombies came rushing out from the trees by the road. Unlike the previous weak zombie, these three male zombies were much more muscular. From the tight-fitting combat gear they wore, they appeared to be zombie hunters who hunted other zombies outside the city for a living.
However, in this world, the roles of hunter and prey could change in an instant. One mistake, and these zombie hunters could become prey, just like these zombies.
At this moment, the roles of hunter and prey were shifting between Chu Xun and the three zombies.
"Three of them... this isn't going to be easy!" Seeing the three zombies charging at him, Chu Xun's expression turned serious. These three zombies were clearly much stronger than the medicine gatherer from earlier. They also appeared more intact, meaning they were far superior in both strength and speed compared to the previous zombie he encountered.
"I have to take the initiative!" Chu Xun quickly made a decision in his mind. He knew that if he was surrounded by these three zombies, he would be in serious danger. After all, his physical strength was nowhere near strong enough to withstand the zombies' bites.
With this in mind, Chu Xun's eyes turned cold. He gripped his battle knife with his right hand and drew his alloy dagger from his waist with his left, adopting a dual-wielding stance and charging at the three zombies.
"Hungry..." Seeing the food rush toward them, the three zombies became even more excited. They roared loudly and then accelerated, charging at Chu Xun in formation.
With the help of the ant gene, Chu Xun's leg muscles had become stronger, giving him a boost in speed. He quickly closed the gap between himself and the three zombies and, with a powerful push of his right foot, suddenly changed direction, charging at the zombie on the far left.
Having lost their self-preservation instincts, zombies were more powerful but lacked balance. Chu Xun's sudden change in direction caught the two zombies on the right off guard. By the time they stumbled to a stop and tried to turn around to pursue Chu Xun, he had already reached the zombie on the left and swung his blade.
"Die!" Learning from his previous encounter, this time Chu Xun didn't slash vertically but aimed horizontally at the zombie's head.
Thud!
The sharp steel blade, propelled by Chu Xun's terrifying strength, cut through the air like a silver flash and struck the zombie's head. In an instant, half of the zombie's head was cleaved off, and its foul, viscous brain matter sprayed backward, splattering on the ground.
With its head destroyed, the zombie's body jerked and then collapsed to the ground. The remaining brain matter and dark red blood began to ooze out from the severed head...
In just one exchange, Chu Xun had easily killed one zombie. Compared to when he first arrived in this world, his combat skills had undoubtedly improved.
However, this wasn't enough!
After slaying the zombie in front of him, Chu Xun immediately felt a strong, nauseating odor approaching from behind. His face changed slightly, and he quickly turned around, swinging his blade without looking.
Thud!
Another dull sound echoed as his 40 cm long battle knife struck the chest and abdomen of the zombie behind him, sweeping across its body. In an instant, the zombie's fragile body was sliced in half as if by a guillotine. Its internal organs, blood, and intestines burst from the wound, flooding the ground and making it slippery.
Thanks to the ant gene, Chu Xun's strength, when fully exerted, was at least over one ton. So even with a simple horizontal slash, he could cause devastating damage to a zombie, slicing it in half!
However, a waist-level wound wasn't fatal to a zombie. The upper half of the zombie's body fell to the ground, yet it still struggled, grabbing onto Chu Xun's right foot and pulling desperately, trying to bite him.
At the same time, the last zombie charged at Chu Xun and opened its arms, as if it were trying to give him a "warm embrace." If someone didn't know better, they might think it was an old friend they hadn't seen in a long time!
Zombies were always enthusiastic about food!
"Get off me, damn it!" This was the first time Chu Xun had encountered such a situation, and he was slightly flustered. His face changed as he swung the dagger in his left hand at the zombie charging at him, while his right leg kicked forward, trying to shake off the zombie that had latched onto his leg.
Fortunately, Chu Xun's strength was sufficient. With a powerful kick, the half-zombie was sent flying like a ball, crashing into a large stone in the distance, blood and flesh scattered, motionless.
At the same time, Chu Xun's left-hand dagger also pierced the charging zombie's body. The second-tier alloy dagger was incredibly sharp, and Chu Xun felt almost no resistance as the dagger pierced deep into the zombie's chest. The zombie's body trembled slightly, and its forward momentum slowed.
"Die!" Seizing the opportunity, Chu Xun made his final strike. He shouted and gripped the dagger embedded in the zombie's chest, yanking it upward. In an instant, the zombie's chest cavity was torn open, and then its neck, followed by the entire head, was cleaved in half by the dagger, from the bottom up.
Thud!
The dagger split the zombie's skull open, revealing the gleaming blade. At the same time, large amounts of brain matter, blood, and even more disgusting fluids erupted from the zombie's head, drenching Chu Xun and turning him into a bloody mess. The overwhelming stench of death almost made him vomit.
In addition, a small, light blue crystal, about the size of a soybean, slid out from the zombie's split head, landing in the pool of blood and emitting a distinct blue glow.
"Primitive crystal core?" Seeing the faintly glowing blue crystal lying in the blood, Chu Xun's face showed a glimmer of excitement. He didn't even care about the blood and stench on his body and quickly knelt down to pick it up.
If he wasn't mistaken, this light blue crystal was the so-called primitive crystal core, the precursor to the standard crystal core. This item was highly valuable. Although, in theory, any zombie could produce a crystal core, in practice, the chances were only about 2% for a regular zombie to have one.
So, Chu Xun's luck today was quite good!
Although the primitive crystal core could also be consumed, it contained too many impurities and viral energies, which could cause uncertain side effects if used for too long. So, Chu Xun didn't dare to consume it recklessly. He carefully stored it away, intending to exchange it after returning to the city.
However, what Chu Xun didn't know was that the pair of cold eyes hidden in the bushes were watching him with even greater greed and desire after witnessing this scene.
Unaware of the danger lurking nearby, Chu Xun, still naive in some ways, didn't have the sharpest sense of danger. After securing the crystal core, he took out a map from his bag and began studying it carefully.
"It should be just ahead…" After a moment, Chu Xun put the map away and looked thoughtfully at the road ahead.
According to the map, not far ahead, there was a small creek. After crossing the creek and walking another seven kilometers, he would enter the truly dangerous zone.
To prevent Chucheng from being destroyed by a locust plague like the neighboring "White City," the ruler of Chucheng had purchased a "subsonic insect repelling device" from a merchant caravan more than twenty years ago. As a result, except for the most primitive insects like ants, most insects had been driven away by the device's sound waves, which they found extremely unpleasant. The majority of these creatures had been forced into the dense forest, 10 kilometers away from Chucheng.
As a result, the forest 10 kilometers from Chucheng had become the true danger zone, filled with not only mutated creatures and zombies but also countless mutated insects!
But in order to grow stronger and complete his mission, Chu Xun had no choice but to take the risk!
After organizing his equipment, Chu Xun continued forward. Along the way, he encountered a few more wandering zombies attracted by the smell of blood. However, after multiple battles, Chu Xun's combat experience and skills had improved, and with his overwhelming strength and sharp weapons, these zombies quickly became prey for his battle knife, never even posing a real threat.
Of course, this was because Chu Xun's luck was good, and he only encountered lone zombies. If he had come across a horde, he would have had no choice but to flee.
As his experience in killing grew, his combat techniques became more refined. He was already a clever person, and under the stimulation of life-and-death danger, his potential had been further unleashed, significantly enhancing his overall strength.
Just as Chu Xun killed the tenth zombie and was about to take a short rest, that cold voice echoed once again in his mind.